Califoria's Abby Sunderland and her Open 40 Wild Eyes are almost ready for departure from Cape Town on the next leg of her circumnavigation.

In the meantime, Australians were giving their returning solo teen, Jessica Watson, a hero's welcome, and past teen circumnavigators Mike Perham and Jesse Martin were on hand to welcome her home. Jessica arrived back into Sydney Harbour just days before her seventeenth birthday.

The amazing mainstream media attention given to these teenager sailor adventurers might make you think there's nothing else happening out there on the oceans.

It's not true - there's lots of other news, both good and bad. Good news is that Reid Stowe is about to sail into New York at the end of his extraordinary 1152 days at sea, making his the longest non-stop sea voyage in history, and Ian Thomson is on target to establish a world speed record for a non-stop unassisted circumnavigation of Australia.

A British skipper tells the story behind his family's 'miracle' rescue in the Southern Ocean after they hit an iceberg which sank their boat, and Phoenica, the replica 600BC Phoenician sailing boat is half way up the Atlantic on its way to completing its circumnavigation of Africa, believed to have been achieved before, 2,600 years ago.

Bad news is the almost total destruction of a marina and its 275 boats by a tornado(see the picture!); and that a powerboat driver who is alleged to have been responsible for a fatal collision with a stationary sailing boat has been sacked from the Sheriff's office, but still not charged.

Great practical stories this week too - a clever new design Boat Bag that will save you the expense of regular antifouling, some good advice about emergency navigation lights, and, for Americans, with Safe Boating Week coming up, there's some hard numbers to prove their safety campaigns are working. Then there is a competition promising great prizes...

Browse down to find the stories that interest you, and...

Sweet Sailing!

Nancy Knudsen, Editor

Teen sailors - Jessica home, Abby repairing, Laura preparing Sail-World Cruising, While Australia's Jessica Watson basks in the adulation of the nation, and gets her land legs back after seven months at sea, Californian teen Abby Sunderland repairs her yacht in Cape Town and 14-year-old Dutch sailor Laura Dekker is preparing to depart.... [more]Share this story

Enter NOW to win a PredictWind Professional subscription Richard Gladwell, Ten Sail-World readers will win a PredictWind Professional forecasting package for one year, valued at almost $1,000 per subscription. Enter NOW!! COMPETITION CLOSES SOON!! There are ten annual subscriptions of the just released new version of PredictWind's Professional Forecast Package top be won in Sail-World's competition.... [more]Share this story

'Miracle' rescue for family in the Southern Ocean Nancy Knudsen, The skipper of the yacht Hollinsclough which hit an iceberg in the Southern Ocean and was sinking, tells of the 'miracle' that saved him, his partner and their two teenaged children. The family, who comes from Derbyshire in England, sent a Mayday signal when the yacht started taking on water, and had suffered engine failure.... [more]Share this story

Longest sea voyage in history almost over - 1152 days Sail-World Cruising, New York City artist, adventurer and sailor Reid Stowe, on his 70-ft. gaff-rigged schooner Anne, has less than one month left on his epic 1000+ Days non-stop and non-resupplied sea voyage.... [more]Share this story

Dennis Conner goes for solo sailing Lisa Mylchreest, Dennis Conner, the four times winner of the America's Cup, has long been an admirer - and sailor - of classic boats. Now he has a new toy to play with, and one he can handle without crew, once she is restored...... [more]Share this story

Think green, save anti-fouling, The new-design Boat Bag Kate McCallum, 'I haven't anti-fouled my boat in years,' says Martin Ross. Yet Ross, an experienced year-round yachtsman, is like most boat owners and wants to keep his boat clean. 'For me, keeping the hull clean is paramount. I was having to antifoul, then pay for a diver every few weeks to scrub the hull.' That all changed, he says, when he started mooring his boat in a boat bag..... [more]Share this story

Ian Thomson - Round Australia Solo record attempt – on Sat Phone www.Sail-World.com, Thomson's SOS Ocean Racing is running down the coast of Western Australia having departed Airlie Beach on the fifth of May. In the wee small hours of the morning, we talked to him by sat. phone from the North West of Western Australia.... [more]Share this story

Jessica Watson welcomed home Crosbie Lorimer, Amongst the extraordinary scenes of hundreds of boats and crowds on harbour headlands welcoming sixteen year old Jessica Watson home after completing her solo round the world journey this afternoon, it seems strange to think that barely 40 boats accompanied her to the Heads on a grey and windless afternoon in October last year as she set out on her big adventure.... [more]Share this story

Portable emergency nav lights - don't leave shore without them! Grant Headifen, I recently received a request from a student to point out more, throughout our courses, the need to have on board emergency portable battery powered navigation lights in case of electrical failure – and we couldn't agree more.... [more]Share this story

Belize - a dream for a bare-boat sailing holiday Sail-World Cruising., The growing popularity of Belize as a sailing holiday destination has been shown in the steady increase in charter yachts available in the Central American country. Sitting on the eastern coast of the coastline facing the Caribbean Sea, Belize is a unique treasure in the sailing world, and world-wide charter company Sunsail has put their newest yacht charter base there, opening in November 2010... [more]Share this story

How old are your charts? -New website and boater survey tackle problem BoatUS, Nautical charts, whether paper or electronic, can become quickly outdated as storms and currents alter waterway topography or aids to navigation change with little warning.... [more]Share this story

The USA's National Safe Boating Week - it works and we can prove it Sail-World Cruising, National Safe Boating Campaigns in the USA have worked well, says one Coast Guard Station in the USA, and they have the numbers to prove it. With National Safe Boating Week coming up 21-27 May, the Green Bay Coast Guard Station in Green Bay on Lake Ontario have published their numbers to prove that their campaigns are working... [more]Share this story

Powerboat driver in sailing death fired, but not charged Bob Adriance, Seaworthy/Sail-World, The man at the centre of a boat crash that killed a woman sailor has been fired from the Lake County Sheriff's Department more than four years after the incident. Russell Perdock was the second in command, but off-duty, when he drove his powerboat a reported 50 mph at night into an almost stationary sailboat, killing a woman on the sailboat.... [more]Share this story

1120 days at sea and still sailing Net News Publisher/Sail-World Cruising, Most sailors who set out to sail around the world non-stop and unassisted, aim to do the circumnavigation and arrive home as soon as practicable. But when Australian teenager Jessica Watson arrives back in Sydney after clocking up her own 209 astonishing days in a solo circumnavigation, spare a thought for another sailor who's been sailing for 1,120 days, and still going...... [more]Share this story

Phoenicia - four weeks in the Atlantic, heading for the Azores Lisa Mylchreest, It has been almost 4 weeks at sea since Phoenica, the replica 600 BC Phoenician sailing ship, left the Ascension Islands and she still has a very long way to go to reach the Azores. The ship is nearing the end of her journey to replicate a circumnavigation of Africa, thought to have been made in Phoenician times.... [more]Share this story

US Thermal imaging company FLIR Systems buys Raymarine MarineBusiness-World.com, US Thermal imaging company FLIR Systems announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with the Administrator of Raymarine plc to acquire all of the outstanding shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, Raymarine Holdings Limited. The transaction value of approximately $180 million includes repayment of all of Raymarine's indebtedness and approximately $24 million in proceeds to... [more]Share this story

Tornado's direct hit destroys marina and 250 boats Sail-World Cruising, When the wind blows and the seas are high, you can normally sleep secure that your yacht is safe in its marina - that's unless it has a direct hit by a passing tornado. So spare a thought for the owners of 275 boats who were in for a nasty surprise when they woke up one morning this week.... [more]Share this story

Sail-World Boat Test: Flying the fabulous Weta Richard Gladwell, Sail-World's Richard Gladwell test drives the Weta trimaran off Takapuna Beach: Over the past 30 or so years there have been several seminal boats and designs. Bruce Kirby did it with the Laser, Hoyle Schwietzer with the Winsurfer, Hobie Alter with the Hobie 16, and Frank Bethwaite did it with the 29er. And now, Roger and Chris Kitchen and the team at Wetamarine have done it with the Weta.... [more]Share this story

Chicken gybe for the smart sailor Grant Headifen, Remember in the movie back to the Future when Michael J. Fox hated being called 'Chicken'? ... but eventually he smartened up – didn't take the dare and changed his future for the good. Well ... sometimes in sailing it's equally as smart to NOT take the dare.... [more]Share this story

Searching for the inaugural ARC participants Sail-World Cruising, The first Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) took place in 1986. Now the ARC organisers, ready to celebrate their 25th successful year, want to talk to participants who took part in that first rally, particularly the children.... [more]Share this story

ISAF repeats anti-piracy recommendations ISAF, Military Authorities have issued further warnings of piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Northern Indian Ocean region. As a result the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has re-issued advice on guidelines.... [more]Share this story

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